California State Library Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942787115
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
9164476331
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,558,082
Expenses
$550,136
Assets
$10,624,683
Liabilities
$104,229

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KENNETH B NOACK JR (PRESIDENT)
  • MARILYN SNIDER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • BRITTNEYDAWN COOK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRITTNEYDAWN COOK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $122,063 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The California state library foundation is the independent philanthropic partner of the California state library in strengthening information resources which enrich the social and cultural heritage of California and its people.

What it reported doing in 2025

The braille and talking book library uses the donations given to the foundation to enhance the library services for californians unable to read standard print. The California history section holds a premier collection from and about California's rich history. Its vaults house thousands of rare materials and one-of-a-kind photographs, letters, and ephemeral items. We sponsored educational event: sacramento speaker series, to promote the California state library and California state library foundation. We awarded kibbey California state library fellowship, which supports projects at the California state library by currently enrolled college and university students, regardless of academic degree sought, as well as members of faculty.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 66.1%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 64.7%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 19.31; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.2%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 66.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $364K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $122K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.